Published: Friday, December 20, 2013 at 10:53 p.m.

Last Modified: Friday, December 20, 2013 at 10:53 p.m.

LAKELAND | SeaWorld, faced with a wave of negative publicity generated by a critical documentary film, is getting more aggressive in defending itself.

SeaWorld Entertainment Inc. launched a media campaign Friday aimed at combating concerns about its treatment of killer whales used as performers at its shows in Orlando and two other locations. The Orlando-based company published full-page advertisements in eight newspapers throughout the country, including The New York Times and the Orlando Sentinel.

The ads, titled "An Open Letter from SeaWorld's Animal Advocates," begin, "Inaccurate reports recently have generated questions about SeaWorld and the animals in our care."

SeaWorld posted the same "open letter" on the websites for its parks in Orlando, San Diego and San Antonio. The newspaper ads include the address for a website, seaworldcares.com, that highlights the parks' animal-care programs and animal-rescue operations.

The campaign is a response to "Blackfish," a documentary released early this year. The film, directed by Gabriela Cowperthwaite, screened at the Sundance Film Festival and several international festivals and had a limited theatrical release but never screened in Polk County. The documentary has been shown on CNN and is now available on DVD and through streaming on Netflix.

The movie focuses on Tilikum, an orca (or killer whale) featured in performances at SeaWorld Orlando. In 2010, Tilikum dragged a trainer, Dawn Brancheau, into its pool and killed her. The film suggests Tilikum has been involved in the deaths of at least two other trainers since it was captured off the coast of Iceland in 1983 at age 2.

SeaWorld Orlando removed Tilikum from performances after Brancheau's death, but it eventually returned to the acrobatic shows.

The negative attention has swelled in the past month as a series of high-profile performers canceled scheduled concerts at SeaWorld Orlando. The Canadian band Barenaked Ladies, citing concerns raised by "Blackfish," was reportedly the first to cancel. Since then, such acts as Willie Nelson, Heart, Martina McBride and REO Speedwagon have canceled concert plans because of the controversy.

Most of the acts were scheduled to appear at Bands, Brew, and BBQ, a series of weekend events held in February through March.

"Blackfish" spawned a petition at the site Change.org that asks SeaWorld to "humanely release" the whale into a sea pen for rehabilitation. The petition had gained more than 71,000 signatures as of Friday afternoon.

SeaWorld is owned by the Blackstone Group, which also owns a share of Merlin Entertainments Group, the corporate owner of Legoland Florida.

News reports say rocker Joan Jett recently sent a letter to SeaWorld President Jim Atchison asking the park to stop using her song "I Love Rock 'n' Roll" during its "Shamu Rocks" performances. A SeaWorld spokesman said the park has complied, even though it owned rights to the song.

SeaWorld's newspaper ads made six key points. Among them, the park says it has not captured killer whales in the wild for 35 years and does not separate female whales from their calves. The ads say SeaWorld has invested $70 million in killer whale habitats in the past three years.

Shawn Spivey, a Bartow woman who moderates the PolkMoms.com website for Ledger Media Group, said SeaWorld has been a topic of discussion on the site. Spivey said she holds annual passes to SeaWorld and had considered taking her kids to the park over the holiday break.

Spivey said the accusations of mistreatment in "Blackfish" have caused her to have serious doubts about visiting SeaWorld again.

Mike Lee, a morning disc jockey on Lakeland's WWRZ (98.3 FM), said he and co-host Eric Michaels have discussed the controversy on their show, "The Big Max Morning Show with Eric and Mike."

Lee said he has seen "Blackfish" and called it "an incredibly well-done movie." But he said he knows former whale trainers at SeaWorld, and, after talking to them, he came to regard the documentary as slanted and incomplete.

"I have a friend who was a whale trainer at SeaWorld for 11 years, and he said he never experienced or witnessed any of the abuse the film claimed," Lee said. "He and a few other friends I talked to have got a ton of support because a lot of people realize whenever you get documentaries like this … a lot of it is propaganda, and it's not necessarily going to show you the whole side of the story."

Robert Niles, founder and editor of California-based ThemeParkInsider.com, dismissed the notion that "Blackfish" has had any significant financial impact on SeaWorld. He called the Change.org petition an "Astroturf" campaign manufactured by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals.

"There's a lot of publicity, but I don't think anybody cares," Niles said by phone. "They're getting bands to pull out based on 5,000 online signatures that are easily manipulated. There's no evidence there's any real popular support for this position at all."

Niles acknowledged SeaWorld Orlando has attendance problems, but he said that reflects the park's intense competition from other theme parks and its failure to develop a new "hit" attraction in recent years.

"Nobody likes getting negative stories against them," Niles said. "I think SeaWorld has taken the approach that it wasn't engaging with this, but at some point it has to set the record straight, and I think that's a smart thing to do. ... They need to defend the reputation of their animal care professionals, and they're doing that."

In what might be seen as a reaction to the controversy, SeaWorld announced an offer Wednesday to sell admission tickets for $59 through Groupon. The regular price is $92.

Bryan Wilson, Central Florida coordinator for the Animal Rights Foundation of Florida, said his organization has staged two demonstrations near the main entrance to SeaWorld and has another planned for 10 a.m. Sunday .

Wilson, who lives in suburban Orlando, said he has seen "Blackfish" three times. He said the movie has amplified the criticisms animal-rights groups have been making about SeaWorld for decades. He said "Blackfish" draws power from its interviews with former trainers at SeaWorld.

"?'Blackfish,' more than anything, just provided another voice that previously may have been pushed to the sidelines by calling us a bunch of animal-rights extremists," Wilson said. "I think more than anything it's a building up of the information that has been released, and we are pleased that the tide is beginning to turn against SeaWorld."

Wilson said the SeaWorld ad campaign reflects the worries of a multimillion-dollar corporation concerned about a potential decline in revenue. He said his group's goal is to see all the marine animals SeaWorld uses in its performances rehabilitated and released to the wild.

Brian Pia, executive vice president at BLR Further, a "brand-fixing" company based in Birmingham, Ala., said he wasn't impressed with SeaWorld's first foray in its counterattack.

"SeaWorld is taking the wrong approach," said Pia, who has 20 years of experience in crisis management. "The ad campaign is really a childish approach. A bunch of ads won't eliminate the crisis. Fixing the problems will eliminate the crisis."

Pia said he has seen "Blackfish" and thinks the documentary raises valid concerns. He said SeaWorld would do better to acknowledge issues raised in the movie and address them.

"They (SeaWorld) need to take a step back and look at their corporate culture," Pia said. "They need to investigate. ... Laying out the steps they'll take to correct problems is what will keep people coming in the door."

[ Gary White can be reached at gary.white@theledger.com or 863-802-7518. He blogs about tourism at http://tourism.blogs.theledger.com. ]

<p>LAKELAND | SeaWorld, faced with a wave of negative publicity generated by a critical documentary film, is getting more aggressive in defending itself.</p><p>SeaWorld Entertainment Inc. launched a media campaign Friday aimed at combating concerns about its treatment of killer whales used as performers at its shows in Orlando and two other locations. The Orlando-based company published full-page advertisements in eight newspapers throughout the country, including The New York Times and the Orlando Sentinel.</p><p>The ads, titled "An Open Letter from SeaWorld's Animal Advocates," begin, "Inaccurate reports recently have generated questions about SeaWorld and the animals in our care."</p><p>SeaWorld posted the same "open letter" on the websites for its parks in Orlando, San Diego and San Antonio. The newspaper ads include the address for a website, seaworldcares.com, that highlights the parks' animal-care programs and animal-rescue operations.</p><p>The campaign is a response to "Blackfish," a documentary released early this year. The film, directed by Gabriela Cowperthwaite, screened at the Sundance Film Festival and several international festivals and had a limited theatrical release but never screened in Polk County. The documentary has been shown on CNN and is now available on DVD and through streaming on Netflix.</p><p>The movie focuses on Tilikum, an orca (or killer whale) featured in performances at SeaWorld Orlando. In 2010, Tilikum dragged a trainer, Dawn Brancheau, into its pool and killed her. The film suggests Tilikum has been involved in the deaths of at least two other trainers since it was captured off the coast of Iceland in 1983 at age 2.</p><p>SeaWorld Orlando removed Tilikum from performances after Brancheau's death, but it eventually returned to the acrobatic shows.</p><p>The negative attention has swelled in the past month as a series of high-profile performers canceled scheduled concerts at SeaWorld Orlando. The Canadian band Barenaked Ladies, citing concerns raised by "Blackfish," was reportedly the first to cancel. Since then, such acts as Willie Nelson, Heart, Martina McBride and REO Speedwagon have canceled concert plans because of the controversy.</p><p>Most of the acts were scheduled to appear at Bands, Brew, and BBQ, a series of weekend events held in February through March.</p><p>"Blackfish" spawned a petition at the site Change.org that asks SeaWorld to "humanely release" the whale into a sea pen for rehabilitation. The petition had gained more than 71,000 signatures as of Friday afternoon.</p><p>SeaWorld is owned by the Blackstone Group, which also owns a share of Merlin Entertainments Group, the corporate owner of Legoland Florida.</p><p>News reports say rocker Joan Jett recently sent a letter to SeaWorld President Jim Atchison asking the park to stop using her song "I Love Rock 'n' Roll" during its "Shamu Rocks" performances. A SeaWorld spokesman said the park has complied, even though it owned rights to the song.</p><p>SeaWorld's newspaper ads made six key points. Among them, the park says it has not captured killer whales in the wild for 35 years and does not separate female whales from their calves. The ads say SeaWorld has invested $70 million in killer whale habitats in the past three years.</p><p>Shawn Spivey, a Bartow woman who moderates the PolkMoms.com website for Ledger Media Group, said SeaWorld has been a topic of discussion on the site. Spivey said she holds annual passes to SeaWorld and had considered taking her kids to the park over the holiday break.</p><p>Spivey said the accusations of mistreatment in "Blackfish" have caused her to have serious doubts about visiting SeaWorld again.</p><p>Mike Lee, a morning disc jockey on Lakeland's WWRZ (98.3 FM), said he and co-host Eric Michaels have discussed the controversy on their show, "The Big Max Morning Show with Eric and Mike."</p><p>Lee said he has seen "Blackfish" and called it "an incredibly well-done movie." But he said he knows former whale trainers at SeaWorld, and, after talking to them, he came to regard the documentary as slanted and incomplete.</p><p>"I have a friend who was a whale trainer at SeaWorld for 11 years, and he said he never experienced or witnessed any of the abuse the film claimed," Lee said. "He and a few other friends I talked to have got a ton of support because a lot of people realize whenever you get documentaries like this … a lot of it is propaganda, and it's not necessarily going to show you the whole side of the story."</p><p>Robert Niles, founder and editor of California-based ThemeParkInsider.com, dismissed the notion that "Blackfish" has had any significant financial impact on SeaWorld. He called the Change.org petition an "Astroturf" campaign manufactured by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals.</p><p>"There's a lot of publicity, but I don't think anybody cares," Niles said by phone. "They're getting bands to pull out based on 5,000 online signatures that are easily manipulated. There's no evidence there's any real popular support for this position at all." </p><p>Niles acknowledged SeaWorld Orlando has attendance problems, but he said that reflects the park's intense competition from other theme parks and its failure to develop a new "hit" attraction in recent years.</p><p>"Nobody likes getting negative stories against them," Niles said. "I think SeaWorld has taken the approach that it wasn't engaging with this, but at some point it has to set the record straight, and I think that's a smart thing to do. ... They need to defend the reputation of their animal care professionals, and they're doing that."</p><p>In what might be seen as a reaction to the controversy, SeaWorld announced an offer Wednesday to sell admission tickets for $59 through Groupon. The regular price is $92.</p><p>Bryan Wilson, Central Florida coordinator for the Animal Rights Foundation of Florida, said his organization has staged two demonstrations near the main entrance to SeaWorld and has another planned for 10 a.m. Sunday .</p><p>Wilson, who lives in suburban Orlando, said he has seen "Blackfish" three times. He said the movie has amplified the criticisms animal-rights groups have been making about SeaWorld for decades. He said "Blackfish" draws power from its interviews with former trainers at SeaWorld.</p><p>"?'Blackfish,' more than anything, just provided another voice that previously may have been pushed to the sidelines by calling us a bunch of animal-rights extremists," Wilson said. "I think more than anything it's a building up of the information that has been released, and we are pleased that the tide is beginning to turn against SeaWorld."</p><p>Wilson said the SeaWorld ad campaign reflects the worries of a multimillion-dollar corporation concerned about a potential decline in revenue. He said his group's goal is to see all the marine animals SeaWorld uses in its performances rehabilitated and released to the wild.</p><p>Brian Pia, executive vice president at BLR Further, a "brand-fixing" company based in Birmingham, Ala., said he wasn't impressed with SeaWorld's first foray in its counterattack.</p><p>"SeaWorld is taking the wrong approach," said Pia, who has 20 years of experience in crisis management. "The ad campaign is really a childish approach. A bunch of ads won't eliminate the crisis. Fixing the problems will eliminate the crisis."</p><p>Pia said he has seen "Blackfish" and thinks the documentary raises valid concerns. He said SeaWorld would do better to acknowledge issues raised in the movie and address them.</p><p>"They (SeaWorld) need to take a step back and look at their corporate culture," Pia said. "They need to investigate. ... Laying out the steps they'll take to correct problems is what will keep people coming in the door."</p><p>[ Gary White can be reached at gary.white@theledger.com or 863-802-7518. He blogs about tourism at http://tourism.blogs.theledger.com. ]</p>